Going back to what @Sportsman88 said there is no “one size fits all” for degrees or career paths. What works well for one person may be totally wrong for another. I think everyone should be able to agree on that.
It is tremendously important to do due diligence before deciding on a career path. There are many ways to do this such as – talk to professors in the field, talk to people currently working in the field, talk to career services and understand what job opportunities are available, try to get an internship in the area, shadow professionals, take an introductory class in the discipline etc. Steps such as these can help to increase the odds that a person is comfortable with a chosen career path.
Also google (btw, how hard can it be). In particular, find out the number of graduates in each field each year. When I showed that number in the field of psychology to my daughter, she quickly ruled out that from her potential major list.
@happy1 "There are many ways to do this such as – talk to professors in the field, talk to people currently working in the field, talk to career services and understand what job opportunities are available, try to get an internship in the area, shadow professionals, take an introductory class in the discipline etc. "
The best advise out of that group is to talk to someone in the field while considering a major. Nothing else and nobody else is going to tell you the full story. Certainly nobody at my school did. The teacher who was also my coworker asked if I wanted to make a career out of hotels right after I graduated. When I said I was going to look into other fields, he said, “Yeah. Why would you waste the time?” He knew full well that the amount of time it takes to get promoted to a decent position was simply not worth it.
@prof2dad I did complete and extensive search online before choosing this as my major, while at school, and over the past couple days. I can’t find any article or anything that says most hotels are bought and sold every few years. A government site didn’t even acknowledge it: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/lodging-managers.htm#tab-2
I didn’t perform an as extensive search over the past few days as I did before and during school. The only place where I did find something to that effect were previous blogs I had posted on and this one.
@BigD124 I think I covered that point sufficiently when I suggested talking to people in the field, shadowing professionals. I’m sorry you got poor advice from professors but that is not always the case. In contrast, my S got very useful and very practical advice from his professors regarding the profession and his career path.
@happy1 Yes. I agree. Talking to professionals, as many as possible, is the best way to go. To get back to my point about choosing an accounting major instead of hospitality when you’re looking into a career in hotels, an accounting grad once said about a manager at a restaurant he worked at, “I can do their jobs but they cant do mine.” That says it all right there. An accounting degree will no doubt give you a leg up on the competition. One of my teachers at school claimed to have been the GM at one of the top rated hotels in Europe. He didn’t start off at the front desk, housekeeping department, or as a bellhop. He was an accountant and the GM asked him to take on the responsibility as the front desk manager when he quit. My teacher worked his way up to GM when he quit.